Nothing is ever “strictly business”…

“Tom, don’t let anybody kid you. It’s all personal, every bit of business.” –Michael Corleone I’ve been on a bit of a Godfather kick the last couple of weeks, as my research into a project I’m working on incorporates many themes of the novel/movie into it. Until a week or so ago, I hadn’t read…

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Welcome to Authentic City: Pop. Innumerable

I had an interview today that was slightly different from most interviews I do. I was the one being interviewed, and the topic was Bát Tràng, a village near where Sana and I live that has literally hundreds of craft pottery shops, a museum, places to make your own pottery, etc. You should do a Duck Duck…

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Quit Being So Dang Agreeable

I recently had a dialogue via Voxer with my colleague, Jim Lambie, who recently took over the hosting duties for the Musicpreneur podcast. Jim recently did an interview with a fellow named Danny Ziemann, who has made a bit of a name for himself as one who specializes in the business side of music. And…

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How our resilience and response to adversity changes as we age

This is an excerpt of my interview with trumpeter and entrepreneur Steve Baker. Steve founded the Bull City Syndicate, which does a lot of weddings, festivals and corporate events in the Raleigh/Durham area. Steve was hit hard by the Covid lockdowns and opened up how they affected his business, to the point he was one…

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“One More Cancellation and I Would Have Filed Bankruptcy”

This is an excerpt of my interview with trumpeter and entrepreneur Steve Baker. Steve founded the Bull City Syndicate, which does a lot of weddings, festivals and corporate events in the Raleigh/Durham area. Steve was hit hard by the Covid lockdowns and opened up how they affected his business, to the point he was one…

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The real reason I left the Bull City Syndicate

In last week’s podcast with Steve Baker, we talked briefly about my time playing with his band in the Raleigh/Durham area. The band is called “Bull City Syndicate” and is top-notch with the quality, entertainment value, showmanship, etc. In fact, as I said in the podcast, I learned a lot about showmanship and how to…

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What it’s like to watch The Godfather with 3 women

We had a little movie party yesterday. Saturday is always my day off, and unless my wife is working Saturday in which case I’ll do a bit of work and then take Sunday off, it’s set in stone. So we invited my friend and colleague Mandi (an American who specializes in making show notes for…

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